Animal Health Treatments Wins CSIRO Medal
Document date: Thu 12 Dec 2002 Published: Thu 12 Dec 2002 19:19:12
Document No: 229582 Document part: A
Market Flag: N
Classification: Other
IMUGENE LIMITED 2002-12-12 ASX-SIGNAL-G
HOMEX - Perth
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
MEDIA RELEASE - IMUGENE LIMITED
IMUGENE'S BREAKTHROUGH ANIMAL HEALTH TREATMENTS WIN CSIRO MEDAL
Scientists from Australian animal health and biotechnology group
Imugene and CSIRO have been awarded one of Australia's most
prestigious scientific prizes. The CSIRO medal was awarded for
developing an innovative productivity enhancer for the $US2 billion a
year poultry market.
CSIRO team leaders Dr Mike Johnson, Dr John Lowenthal, and Dr Adrian
Hodgson, CEO of VectoGen, Imugene's production animal subsidiary,
received the CSIRO Medal for identifying a novel method of delivering
the natural productivity enhancers called cytokines through the
patented Adenoviral Vector delivery technology.
Higher Education Minister Brendan Nelson and Science Minister Peter
McGauran presented the team with the award at Federal Parliament
House in Canberra this week.
The new treatment is an immunological product - not an antibiotic,
drug or hormone. Initially, it's aimed at the poultry industry. The
new technology will reduce the reliance on antibiotics, promoting
sustainable production of safe, high-quality food while improving
animal welfare.
Dr Hodgson said the award reflects the success of the Groups
scientific achievements, the results of which are a significant
breakthrough for the poultry industry globally.
"The Adenoviral Vector delivery technology does away with the need to
treat animals with potentially harmful and increasingly ineffective
antibiotics. Instead, it uses the naturally occurring chicken
proteins called cytokines to boost the productivity and improve the
health of the chickens."
Attached : CSIRO Media Release dated 6 December 2002
FURTHER INFORMATION:
Warwick Lamb - 02 9870 7330
Graham Dowland - 08 9322 9189
MEDIA RELEASE - CSIRO - 06 DECEMBER 2002
NEW GENERATION CHICKEN ANTIBIOTIC ALTERNATIVE
A new generation "natural" treatment to protect chickens against
infection could soon phase out the use of antibiotics in the poultry
industry which is good news for consumers concerned about their use.
A CSIRO Livestock Industries' research team has developed a way of
delivering antibiotic alternatives - natural proteins called
cytokines - into chickens.
CSIRO researcher, Dr John Lowenthal, says the use of antibiotics in
animal industries has raised some concerns about the potential spread
of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
"A number of European countries have reacted to these concerns by
restricting the use of antibiotics in food production animals," he
says. "There is, therefore, a strong international push to develop
new, environmentally-friendly methods to control disease in animals."
In 1990, CSIRO began an ambitious research program to find
alternatives to antibiotics for the poultry industry. The focus was
on using cytokines to enhance disease resistance in poultry. A
significant advantage with this approach is the ability of the
cytokines to provide protection against a range of different
infectious diseases.
"Cytokines are proteins that are produced by the body. Their job is
to improve the immune response during infection and help combat
disease. As such, they are excellent naturally-occurring
therapeutics," Dr Lowenthal says.
"We showed that when chickens were treated with cytokines their
health improved and as a consequence they gained weight more quickly.
The problem was identifying how we could safely and effectively
deliver this treatment to the 400 million chickens grown commercially
each year in Australia."
According to CSIRO researcher, Dr Mike Johnson, the solution involved
using viruses called adenoviruses to carry the cytokines into
chickens.
"The adenoviruses we are using are similar to vaccine strains
commonly used in the poultry industry. Using these adenoviruses is
ideal in terms of maintaining biosafety standards because they are
harmless to the animal and only infect one species," Dr Johnson says.
"For example, a chicken adenovirus will infect only chickens, but not
humans or other animals."
Another safety factor is that the adenovirus and cytokines remain in
the chicken for only a few days while the protective effect lasts
much longer. As a result, fully-grown chickens are completely free of
the treatment.
A big plus is the way treatments can be delivered to animals. Needles
are no longer necessary - instead treatments can be mixed in with
food or water or simply sprayed on.
"Numerous animal trials, performed at CSIRO's secure animal
facilities, showed that treating chickens with an adenovirus carrying
a cytokine - chicken gamma interferon - led to improvements in growth
performance," Dr Johnson says.
An Australian research and development company, VectoGen Limited, a
subsidiary of the Australian animal health company, Imugene Limited,
recently acquired exclusive worldwide licenses from CSIRO to this new
technology.
VectoGen's Chief Executive Officer, Dr Adrian Hodgson, says the new
treatment will assist with the reduction in the use of antibiotics as
an in-feed additive and assist Australian livestock producers in
providing sustainable production of safe, high-quality food products.
"The chicken cytokine treatment is one of a range of products
VectoGen is developing for the pig and poultry health markets," says
Dr Hodgson.
Dr Jeff Fairbrother, Executive Director of the Australian Chicken
Meat Federation, says the Australian poultry industry keenly awaits
the release of this novel technology.
IMPORTANT:
TV and print media - high-resolution photographs and betacam footage
featuring Dr Johnson and Dr Lowenthal with chickens and performing
laboratory work are available.
Drs Lowenthal, Johnson and Hodgson can be interviewed at:
CSIRO's Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL),
5 Portarlington Road EAST GEELONG VIC 3219
Any media wishing to come on site MUST contact Ms Judith Maunders,
03 5227 5426, in order to gain entry.
For further information:
Dr John Lowenthal, CSIRO Livestock Industries
Dr Mike Johnson, CSIRO Livestock Industries
Media assistance:
Ms Judith Maunders, CSIRO Livestock Industries 03 5227 5426
0409 031 658
Dr Adrian Hodgson, VectoGen 03 5227 5120
Dr Jeff Fairbrother, Australian Chicken Meat Federation 02 9955 3224
[email protected]
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